Echo in Her Mind

Three.

Without another word, Bethany got up from the table, suddenly curious. When Ruben said The Watcher, she couldn't help but feel some type of way. The two words seemed oddly familiar in her mind, as if she knew this person.

Bethany followed Ruben down several dark streets, wondering where in God's name he could be taking her. His pace was swift, and if it weren't for the bright streetlights illuminating her path, she would have lost him by now.

"How much farther do we have to go?" Bethany asked him, ready for this fiasco to be over so she could get home. Too bad being tired wasn't an emotion, because that would've been nice to not feel right now.

"Not much farther, just a few more blocks." Ruben said, and for a slight moment she thought about detouring away from him. Maybe he wouldn't notice my disappearance.

No, but The Watcher would, she thought without control. So, she continued to follow his footsteps without any other choice.

"Can you at least tell me why I need to meet this Watcher guy?" Bethany caught up to him and fell into pace with his walking.

"I already told you, I couldn't. He has to be the one to do it."

He didn't look at her.

It was as if he were a completely different person than the one she had met earlier. And maybe he was, but something other than Ruben told her that she would find out soon enough.

The closer they got to this supposed Watcher, the more pressure she began to feel in her head. The ticking increased and it was becoming unbearable to even walk.

"Ruben, I can't go any farther." Bethany stopped walking and held her head in her hands. The pressure didn't hurt, even though she wouldn't know if it did. It had been years since she had felt pain, but it was more of an annoyance; overwhelming annoyance.

"Uh, so it is true," he spoke. "It all makes sense now." He walked back to me, and suddenly my feet were off the ground and my body was in his arms. "I'll take it from here."

He continued to carry her to their destination and she was really getting tired of being left in the dark.

"I wish I knew what supposedly made sense to you." She crossed her arms over my chest, wishing for this to all be a dream.

"Well, now's the time." He placed her on her feet. "Now we just have to wait until he's ready to show himself."

Bethany looked around the area where she was taken, seeing nothing but a dark field around them. How we had gotten so far away from the city was beyond her, but they did. There was literally nothing around them for miles.

"And how long is that going to take?" She asked Ruben, who was biting his lip in thought.

"I'm not sure, could be minutes, hours, or days." He said. "It's all up to him."

"You're kidding, right? If he was so keen on you bringing me here, you would think he would be ready now."

Bethany couldn't believe this was happening. She allowed a total stranger to bring her miles away from home, all because someone, who was also a stranger needed to meet her. She should be afraid right now.

Why do all the strange things happen to me?

"Maybe you should learn to be more patient and in control of yourself, Bethany. This is your own fault that we're here right now."

Deciding that she had enough of the blame game he had been playing, Bethany allowed herself to sit down in the grass. She didn't get how any of this is her fault, when she didn't even know what she did to get here. Bethany was the victim here to whatever force or power had diminished her to something that could be considered a vegetable had she lost her will to walk as well.